Eighteen months after the entire Ipswich council was sacked, the city now has a new Mayor.

Former two-time LNP candidate for the federal seat of Blair, Teresa Harding, has been sworn in as Mayor after running as an independent in Queensland's local government elections last month.

After a small ceremony held in her own backyard this week, she has become Ipswich's 51st Mayor.

It is a big step forward for the city which, in 2018 made headlines around the country when Queensland Crime and Corruption Commissions (CCC) investigations saw 15 people, including two former mayors, charged with criminal offences.

In 2019, former mayor Andrew Antoniolli was found guilty of fraud, while his predecessor Paul Pisasale has been jailed for extortion.

The new Mayor says it will take a lot to regain the trust of the community.

“It is a very serious task coming into an organisation that is injured,” she said this week.

“But it is still delivering and performing for the people affected.

“Trust comes in on the back of a turtle and bolts out the door on the back of a racehorse.

“It's going to take time and we need to make sure the council delivers on what they promise.

“It is up to the council to gain the trust of the public again.”

Cr Harding says her first priority is to trace and publicly release how council money was spent under the previous administration.

The previous council owned five entities for developing different infrastructure in the region, including purchases of several sites in the CBD.

An audit has found that just one of these group - Ipswich City Properties Pty Ltd - spent $121.6 million on CBD redevelopment, when the market value of properties purchased was just $42.8 million.

This suggests the council lost about $78 million in the running of the company.

“It is really important that we know how our money was spent, and certainly it was hidden away for so many years that those five Ipswich City Council entities [operated],” Cr Harding said.

“We know [the former administration] lost over $78 million and we need to know where that money went.

“The media have been asking for it, but more importantly, the people of Ipswich want to see it.”